1 - Colombia's Pollution Charge Program goes "Hollywood" 2 - Training Offered on How to Implement Pollution Charges 3 - Greening Industry in Thailand 4 - The U.S. State Department features Greening Industry Research 5 - Updates on OnTheNet, Conferences, and EPAs of the World Dear Friend: For the past seven years the New Ideas in Pollution Regulation (NIPR) team has studied and analyzed innovative programs by environmental regulators and policymakers in the developing world. It is worthwhile therefore to note the impact these new ideas, highlighted in NIPR's recent report Greening Industry, are having with a diverse array of policymakers from both developing and industrialized countries. We are pleased to note several recent dissemination efforts by others regarding research conducted by NIPR team in Colombia and Thailand. 1 - Colombia's Pollution Charge Program goes "Hollywood" In March, dozens of venues throughout the Washington, DC area hosted the 2000 Environmental Film Festival, an annual event that addresses or documents a myriad of environmental issues through film. At the festival the World Bank hosted a screening of a film it produced by its Global Links Television program entitled "Preserving Our Environment". The film highlighted several developing world initiatives including Colombia's introduction of market-based instruments to reduce water pollution. Colombia's Ministry of Environment implemented a water pollution charge program in 1997 to stem the systematic destruction of its rivers. This remarkable program rejected the notion of total dependence upon command-and-control for environmental management, and introduced monetary fees for wastes generated by industries and municipalities as a way of influencing behavior and pressuring them to reduce pollution. Pollution charges have already had an impact on Colombia, where reductions of up to 20% from industrial effluents have been recorded in the largest urban areas, and up to 25% from agricultural wastes in the coffee and banana producing regions. "Preserving Our Environment" highlights the implementation of charges in the Rio Negro region near Medellin, where the program was first launched. EcoAmericas, a monthly magazine on development and environment in Latin America, has also featured the Colombia program as the centerpiece of its March edition. The article also features the Rio Negro experience. In June, 1998 a NIPR team visited Rio Negro to learn what effect the charges were having in its initial phase on environmental behavior by industries and municipalities. NIPR's team learned BOD levels had dropped 28% in the first six months. EcoAmericas reports that by the end of 1999, Rio Negro's seven principal watersheds had recorded a 36% reduction in organic waste and 52% decline of suspended solids. <http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/lacsem/columpres/> <http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/lacsem/ecoamerica.htm> 2 - Training Offered on How to Implement Pollution Charges Many developing world environmental authorities face an increasing urgency to decontaminate and protect dwindling surface and underground water supplies. The Andean Center for Economics in the Environment in Bogota, Colombia is running a training course for environmental professionals on design, implementation and operation of pollution charges in developing nations. The course is based on Colombia's pollution charge program, which uses economic instruments and community participation to design environmental user fees that are adapted to local cultures and economies. The 80-hour course will be offered from August 8th through the 19th, as well as October 9th through the 20th, and four times in 2001. For more information, contact Thomas Black Arbel�ez at [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or by phone at 57-1-341-3266. 3 - Greening Industry in Thailand In January, the Greening Industry: New Roles for Communities, Markets, and Governments report was released in Bangkok as part of conference hosted by Thailand's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MoSTE) to discuss NIPR's research on new models for pollution control in the developing world. MoSTE Minister Arthit Ourairat made news when he announced his intention to implement the principles of public information disclosure as part of the agency's work program. From the Bangkok conference, we are pleased to present economist Benoit Laplante's presentation of NIPR's research on public information disclosure, a Thai translation of Chapter Three of the report entitled Communities, Markets, and Public Information, and the World Bank's environmental strategy report for Thailand. <http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/greening/thaishow.htm> <http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/greening/thai-chap3.pdf> <http://www.worldbank.or/th/environment> 4 - The U.S. State Department features Greening Industry Research In the aftermath of the release of Greening Industry, the U.S. State Department's electronic journal Green Cities: Urban Environmental Solutions featured the report in its March edition. Ms. Charlene Porter of the Office of International Information Programs conducted a lengthy interview of Dr. David Wheeler, NIPR's team leader. Dr. Wheeler discusses a key Greening Industry theme which refutes the assumption many policymakers have that economic development and industrial pollution necessarily go hand in hand. He notes countries have choices and tradeoffs, and it is possible for economies to grow while keep their environmental problems in check. Dr. Wheeler also addresses the impact of public information on environmental behavior and the logic of using market-based instruments in the developing world rather than relying solely on monitoring and enforcement of regulatory standards. <http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/0300/ijge/ijge0300.htm> 5 - Updates on OnTheNet, Conferences, and EPAs of the World NIPR has updated our regular features of environmental links, OnTheNet, our conference section, and have added several new web links for environmental agencies around the world. Among the notable additions to the OnTheNet section, includes: Resources for Promoting Global Business Principles and Best Practices: A Directory of People, Organizations and Web Sites, the directory compiled by the U.S. EPA that lists government agencies, international organizations, NGOs, businesses, consultant groups, foundations and academic institutions involved in shaping the debate on the environment; Scorecard, a reporting criteria developed by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu to help corporate environmental directors to evaluate and benchmarke the quality of their organization's environmental reporting; ISO14000 Registry, a registry of companies that have adopted environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 or ISO 9001 and are seeking to conduct business with other environmentally responsibly managed companies; and ECO BOOKS, on-line, mail order bookstore featuring books on environmental topics with discounts up to 20%. <http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/onthenet.htm> <http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/conferences/index.htm> <http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/epas.htm> As always, NIPR seeks to present information which is both informative and relevant to the work to our audience. 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